Drew Pinsky: Drugs Killed Whitney Houston; Slams Celebrity Docs

Whitney Houston died from her addiction to prescription drugs, which are easily obtained from Beverly Hills doctors who crave celebrity patients, according to Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction specialist and television show host.

Pinsky, who hosts reality shows, “Celebrity Rehab” and “Dr. Drew,” slammed doctors who over-prescribe painkillers and other narcotics to celebrities. Celebrities are more likely to die from prescriptions than illegal drugs, today, he said.

“When someone with a history of chronic addiction, who has failed treatment multiple times, dies young, it’s because of their addiction,” Pinsky said during an interview on ABC’s “The View.” “It’s just statistically the way it goes.”

“Whitney was alleged to have had two different benzodiazepines, Valium like drugs; that’s never prescribed together, and in my opinion should never be given to a drug addict,” he added.

The drugs in combination with alcohol could be deadly. Although it’s disputed how much, or if Houston was drinking at all, Pinsky said he had multiple reports from people that she was drinking the day before she died. “For someone who has failed treatment multiple times to be drinking, that is them holding a loaded pistol and waving it around.”

Pinsky also blamed himself for not speaking up sooner about the widespread abuse of prescription drugs in Hollywood. “I feel bad that I didn’t speak up sooner and more loudly about the cases I was starting to see,” he said.

“When Heath Ledger died [in 2008], I announced that this is the beginning. This is going to be the beginning of a tidal wave… because my addict patients when they die, they die a prescription death. That’s the way it is today.”

Pinsky said most doctors do not understand and are unable to identify addiction in their patients. “Doctors get very sort of turned on by taking care of famous people.” But Pinsky warned that if a doctor gives a celebrity special care, the potential for abuse is high.

“Doctors who sort of seek out celebrities… watch out for that,” he said. Check out the video below:

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Keith Girard is Editor and Publisher of TheImproper, New York City’s cutting edge arts, entertainment pop culture and lifestyle Web magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of Billboard magazine and a reporter for the Washington Post among other media positions.